How Beautiful It Is to Survive
How Beautiful It Is to Survive is an American animated television comedy created by Robert Nimos for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Balors, a family consisting of parents Oscar and Marge; their son, Gus; their grandmother, Pearl; and their anthropomorphic pet penguin-like bird, Davy. The show is set in the fictional town of Cremos and parodies American culture and society. How Beautiful It Is to Survive was aimed at adult audiences and features cartoon violence, alcohol and tobacco use, coarse language, adult humor, and pop culture references. The family was conceived by Nimos in 1991, were he wanted to make an animated television series for the Fox Broadcasting Company, leading to the creation of How Beautiful It Is to Survive. Nimos pitched a seven-minute pilot to Fox in May 1995, and the show was greenlit and began production. The series was originally set to premiere in fall of 1995 with the pilot they showed to Fox earlier that year but the episode was declined to be used by Fox (until it was finally preserved on the volume 1 DVD in 2001). The producers of the show then decided to "go ahead" and air another first episode as a mid-season replacement in 1996. Since its debut on January 28, 1996, 477 episodes of How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''have been broadcast. It is the second longest-running American sitcom only behind ''The Simpsons and the sixth longest-running animated series in the U.S., behind Pikmin, The Simpsons, The Geo Team, Greeny Phatom, and Geo's World. How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''won 20 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 Annie Awards, and 5 Teen Choice Awards. A spin-off series, ''The Robinson Show, featuring Robinson McMurry, aired from September 10, 2006, to May 23, 2010. How Beautiful It Is to Survive is a joint production by Introvert Hangover, My Bunny Productions, Funbag Productions, and 20th Century Fox Television and syndicated by 20th Television. In 2013, TV Guide ranked How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''the thirteenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time. ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive's twenty-fifth season premiered on September 29, 2019. It is also renewed for a twenty-sixth season. On October 22, 2019, Fox renewed the series for a twenty-seventh season. Premise Characters Main article: List of How Beautiful It Is to Survive characters The show revolves around the adventures of the Balor family, consisting of father Oscar (voiced by Jeff Bergman), a hypersensitive, yet good-hearted, outgoing, independent, and confident worker; Marge (voiced by Tress MacNeille), a pampered, kind, witty, sarcastic, intelligent, and dazzlingly beautiful housewife; Gus (voiced by Tom Kenny), their awkward, immature, overemotional, clumsy, talkative, childish, and yet friendly teenage son; Pearl (voiced by Tress MacNeille), their good and sometimes bossy grandma; and their dog named Gomez (voiced by Frank Welker). Living with the family is their sardonic, foul-mouthed, selfish, and ill-tempered purple and green penguin-like creature Davy (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz). Recurring characters appear alongside the Balor family. These include the family's neighbors: former criminal/race car driver Panza Robertson (voiced by Tom Kenny); African American rapper Robinson McMurry (voiced by Robert Nimos); paraplegic firefighter Joe Rockhead (voiced by John DiMaggio); his wife Brittney, their son Chris Rockhead (voiced by Scott Grimes), and their baby daughter Jennifer; neurotic Jewish pharmacist Eustance Koism (voiced by Tom Kenny), his wife Jessica (voiced by Nicole Sullivan), and their geeky and annoying son Devin (voiced by Seth Green); elderly child molester Hubert (voiced by Mike Henry); Oscar's boss Mr. Slate (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui); the Balors' paperboy Arnold (voiced by Billy West); Marge's mother-in-law Aunt Lila (voiced by Tress MacNeille); TV news anchors Phil Tucker (voiced by Robert Nimos) and Tierra Jermenos (later Ana Rolland) (voiced by Lori Alan), Asian reporter Josia Flowers (voiced by Tress MacNeille), Blaccu-Weather ''meteorologist Jeff Kindson (voiced by Phil LaMarr); Pearl's shy, moody, depressed goth and emo teenager and friend Kathy Lipowski (voiced by Grey DeLisle); Gus' best friend Bryce Jones (voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz); mad scientist Carl Stevenson (voiced by Gregg Berger); Oscar's uncle Uncle Tex Hardrock (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson); the Grand Poobah Sam Slagheap (voiced by Frank Welker); and Mayor Fudge Nison (voiced by Jim Cummings). Setting The primary setting of ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive is Cremos. More coming soon! Development The development of How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''began in 1991, with Robert Nimos announced to make an adult animated series for the Fox network. Nimos wanted to recapture the adult audience with an animated situation comedy. Phil Ortiz had his background and prop design role; along with Salene Weatherwax, the latter having a prop design role during the first four seasons. The show imitated and spoofed ''Family Guy, although the early voice characterization for Gus was that of Stewie Griffin. Tim Rice admitted that "At that time, Family Guy was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with How Beautiful It Is to Survive ... Family Guy was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept." However, Robert Nimos disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating that, "I don't remember mentioning Family Guy when I sold the show. But if people want to compare How Beautiful It Is to Survive to Family Guy, then great. It's a total compliment. Family Guy was one of the greatest animated shows ever written." Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy, considered suing Funbag Productions, but decided that he did not want to be known as "the guy who yanked Oscar Balor off the air". When the series went into production, the working title The Balors was changed. After spending a brief period in development as How to Survive, Fox settled upon How Beautiful It Is to Survive. Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences, which was reflected in the comedy writing, which, as noted, resembled the average primetime sitcoms of the era, with the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a laugh track. How Beautiful It Is to Survive premiered on January 28, 1996, at 8:30 pm, and quickly became a hit. The first four seasons were co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes and the characters appeared in several television commercials for Winston. Production Executive producers Nimos has served as an executive producer during the show's entire history. The first executive producers were David Zuckerman, Mala Miles, Terry Ward, and Steve Samano. How Beautiful It Is to Survive has had many executive producers in its history, including Dave Wasson, Henri Dosclez, James Sharp, and Nadjib Mansouri. David A. Goodman joined the show as a co-executive producer in season three, and eventually became an executive producer. James Clayton worked as an executive and supervising producer for the fourth and fifth seasons. Writing The first team of writers assembled for the show consisted of Brian Graden, Mala Miles, Terry Ward, Steve Samano, Dave Wasson, Henri Dosclez, James Sharp, and James Clayton. The writing process of How Beautiful It Is to Survive generally starts with 14 writers that take turns writing the scripts; when a script is finished it is given to the rest of the writers to read. These scripts generally include cutaway gags. Various gags are pitched to Nimos and the rest of the staff, and those deemed funniest are included in the episode. Voice actors Main article: List of How Beautiful It Is to Survive cast members and List of How Beautiful It Is to Survive guest stars Jeff Bergman voices the show's main character Oscar Balor. Tress MacNeille voices Marge Balor, Pearl Balor, Aunt Lila, Maria McMurry, and Josia Flowers. Tom Kenny voices Gus Balor, Panza Robertson, Larry Koism, Mayor Fudge Nison, and many other recurring characters. The role of Gus Balor was originally going to be given to Richard Steven Horvitz, but was replaced by Tom Kenny for unknown reasons. Richard Steven Horvitz voiced Davy Balor and Bryce Jones. Frank Welker voiced the Balor family's pet dog, Dog. Creator Robert Nimos voiced Robinson McMurry, William Johnson, Curtis, Dr. Sam Oliver, Sea Captain, and other minor characters. John DiMaggio voiced Joe Rockhead and other recurring characters. Other recurring cast members include Carlos Alazraqui as Mr. Slate; Billy West as Arnold and Zach Koism, Kevin Michael Richardson as Uncle Tex Hardrock; and Jess Harnell as Sam Slagheap. Episodes often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians, and scientists. Many guest voices star as themselves. Animation Fox provided production services "in case animation proved to be difficult". Animation for the first five seasons were split between Sunwoo Entertainment in South Korea, Wang Film Productions in Taiwan, and Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines. Fil-Cartoons also provided ink-and-paint facilities during the fifth and sixth seasons. Various other animation studios were contracted beginning in season six. Post-production The show's sound services are provided by Hacienda Post, Goldcrest London, Todd-AO, Screenmusic Studios, Slightly Off Track, Sony Pictures Studios and Technicolor Creative Services. Music The show's soundtrack was composed by Shawn Patterson, while its theme song was composed by multi-instrumentalist Josh Mancell, produced by Devo's singer Mark Mothersbaugh, and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Mutato Muzika Studios. Episodes Main article: List of How Beautiful It Is to Survive episodes Hallmarks Humor How Beautiful It Is to Survive uses the filmmaking technique of cutaways, which occur in the majority of How Beautiful It Is to Survive episodes. Emphasis is often placed on gags which make reference to current events and/or modern cultural icons. The show uses catchphrases, and most of the primary and secondary characters have them. Notable expressions include Robertson's "Miggity miggity oh!", Oscar's "Super Awesome", Robinson's "That's disgusting", and Joe's "You jerks!" The use of many of these catchphrases declined in later seasons. Reception and legacy The night after How Beautiful It Is to Survive premiered, Variety magazine called it "a pen and ink disaster", and the series was among many that debuted in a "vast wasteland" of a 1995–96 television season considered one of the worst in television history up to that point. As late as the 1990s, highbrow critics derided the show's limited animation and derivative plots. Despite the mixed critical reviews at first, How Beautiful It Is to Survive has generally been considered a cult hit. In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that like other satirical comedies, How Beautiful It Is to Survive "is most popular in cities. The show's popularity was more correlated with support for Hillary Clinton than any other show". As of 2008, the franchise has generated $1 billion in total revenue, including $400 million from TV syndication, $400 million from DVD sales, and $200 million from merchandise sales. Critical reception The series has received universal acclaim. It currently holds a 8.7 rating on TV.com, and 8.9 rating from 10,222 users on IMDb.com. Catherine Seipp of National Review Online described it as an "extremely funny" cartoon. Caryn James of The New York Times called it a show with an "outrageously satirical family" that "includes plenty of comic possibilities and parodies". The Sydney Morning Herald named How Beautiful It Is to Survive the "Show of the Week" on April 21, 2009, hailing it a "pop culture-heavy masterpiece". Frazier Moore from The Seattle Times called it an "endless craving for humor about bodily emissions". He thought it was "breathtakingly smart" and said a "blend of the ingenious with the raw helps account for its much broader appeal". He summarized it as "rude, crude and deliciously wrong".159 The New Yorker's Nancy Franklin said that How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''is becoming one of the best animated shows; she commented on its ribaldry and popularity. The show has become a hit on Hulu; it is the second-highest viewed show after ''Saturday Night Live. IGN called How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''a great show, and commented that it has gotten better since its revival. They stated that they cannot imagine another half-hour sitcom that provides as many laughs as ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive. Empire praised the show and its writers for creating really hilarious moments with unlikely material. They commented that one of the reasons they love the show is because nothing is sacred—it makes jokes and gags of almost everything. Robin Pierson of The TV Critic praised the series as "a different kind of animated comedy which clearly sets out to do jokes which other cartoons can't do." How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''has proven popular in the United Kingdom, regularly obtaining between 700,000 and 1 million viewers for re-runs on BBC Three. Awards and nominations ''Main article: List of awards and nominations received by How Beautiful It Is to Survive The show won 20 Primetime Emmy Awards, 11 Annie Awards, and 5 Teen Choice Awards. In 1997, it was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, becoming the first animated program to be nominated in this category since The Flintstones in 1961. The Simpsons was almost nominated in 1993, but voters were hesitant to pit cartoons against live action programs. In the 1,000th issue of Entertainment Weekly, Davy was selected as the penguin for "The Perfect TV Family".'' British newspaper ''The Times rated How Beautiful It Is to Survive as the 45th-best American show in 2009. IGN ranked How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''at number seven in the "Top 100 Animated Series" and number six in the "Top 25 Primetime Animated Series of All Time". ''Empire named it the twelfth-greatest TV show of all time. Dog was awarded the 2009 Stoner of the Year award by High Times, marking the first time an animated character received the honor. In 2004 and 2007, TV Guide ranked How Beautiful It Is to Survive number 12 and number 15 in their list of top cult shows ever. In 2013, TV Guide ranked How Beautiful It Is to Survive the ninth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time. Broadcast How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''premiered and originally aired in the United States on the Fox network, January 28, 1996 – present, followed by Adult Swim September 7, 2001 – present, and Troll Adult May 28, 2005 – present. Syndicated broadcast of the series in the US began in September 2002. Canadian networks YTV, Teletoon and Global Television broadcast ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''January 28, 1996 – present. The series was broadcast in Australia on the following stations: Seven Network aired the series from November 7, 1996 – present, Fox8 from 1998–present, Network Ten between 2001–present, and on 7mate September 23, 2006 – present. Audiences in New Zealand received the series on the following stations: TV2 February 2, 1996 – 2006, the BOX from 1996–present, Fox from 1997–present, and on Four from 2000–present. ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''currently airs in Ireland on networks Fox, Pick and Sky1. The series was carried by the following networks in the United Kingdom: Sky1 from August 20, 1996 – present, Channel 4 from 1997–present, and the series is currently repeated on Pick and Fox. ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''was also broadcast in Japan on the following stations: Fox from April 5, 1996– present, Fuji Television from March 20, 1997 – present, Tokyo Broadcasting System from 1997–2002, TV Asahi from September 22, 1999– present, and on TV Tokyo from 2008–present. The show has also aired on Fox in other countries including South Korea, China, Russia, Germany, Brazil, Spain, and others since 1996. Networks Other media Comic books ''Main article: How Beautiful It Is to Survive (comics) Spin-off Main article: The Robinson Show Nimos created—the How Beautiful It Is to spin-off The Robinson Show, which premiered September 10, 2006. They began discussing the project in 2004. Video games Nine video games based on the show have been released: * How Beautiful It Is to Survive ''(2000), for PlayStation, Windows, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, and Nintendo 64 * ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive 2 (2001), for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, and Microsoft Windows * How Beautiful It Is to Survive: Party Craze ''(2003), for PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and Windows * ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive Online (2006), for Windows * How Beautiful It Is to Survive Crazy Party ''(2006), for Wii, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo GameCube * ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive World (2011), for Windows, PlayStation 3,Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii * How Beautiful It Is to Survive: Back to the Multiverse (2012), for Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita,Wii, Wii U Windows, and Xbox 360 * How Beautiful It Is to Survive: The Quest for Stuff (2014), for iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire * ''How Beautiful It Is to Survive: On a Roll ''(2018), for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows Merchandise Since the show's premiere, various forms of merchandise based on the show have been released, such as home media releases, action figures, clothing, food, and more. Category:TV Shows